Bed Shapers

Can anyone tell me the difference between the little wonder style bed shapers that use the disc style wheel and the bed edgers that use the tooth like carbon blades. Looking at purchasing one and besides the hydrostatic drive and walking forward on the disc style, I cant find lots of information on why there are two styles and the pros and cons to each style. Also for those of you that own one, do you find them causing more problems such as cutting cable and phone lines, damaging pipes etc?

I currently own the Little Wonder Bedshaper edger. I also rented a bluebird bedbug edger before that. The Little Wonder is self propelled forward and reverse. The Brown, Bluebirds, and Bedscaper brands are all pull behind. The disc blade on the Little Wonder cuts the edges with a cleaner/sharper look into longer strips so clean up is easy and faster. The units with the rotor blade mulch the grass together with the soil but you can't leave it like that without cleaning it up. The disc blade is smoother to operate while the rotor blade can vibrate through the handles. The rotor blade have more options in style of blades and capabilities of having a cable laying blade. A disc blade costs $50-70 vs. $100+ for the rotor blade. Rotor blade units run $1500-$3000 vs. the Little Wonder $3000-$3500. I find its a real time saver for big landscape beds, but it more difficult for smaller circle around trees due to roots and not being able to get a perfect circle. All utility lines, underground ground dog fences, and sprinklers systems need to be marker before hand with either type of machine and be carefull of tree roots and rocks. In all its a machine that gets used more in the spring and summer. The more it gets used the more affective the operator will be.

Thanks for the info. Do you find that the disc type is worth the extra $500 to $1000. Im thinking it would move faster and would be nice to have the self propelled feature but for a piece of equipment that only gets used a month or two a year im not sure if the extra $$$$ is worth it. At this point anything has to be better than a shovel or spade.

My opinion is the Little Wonder is worth the extra up front cost. You are getting more machine for the money(13 hp & self propelled vs 6-9 hp ). Its the fastest machine out there. I do about 20-25 mulch jobs a year so I probably only put around 10 hours on it a year and i rent it out to a buddy a couple of times a year. In the spring when you are overwhelmed with other jobs (aeration, dethatching, clean-ups, mowing, etc...) its one area were many man hours can be saved. Factor in less back pain and being physically being worn-out. If you can justify the 3 grand go for it. You can always sell it after a couple of years and recover $2000 or more back.

We have a turf teq sidewinder and with that setup you get both types--disc and rotor blades. The difference is with the turf teq you can use the rotor blade in the forward motion. We prefer the rotor style for everything we do--new installs and spring work. We found that picking up the long "worms" the disc cut was next to impossible with a shovel (without cutting) and required a lot of bending over--now we just skim with a shovel, rake out and roll on

Thanks for all the info. I only do this work part time and it wouldnt get used often at all but any excuse to get an new toy and save time and labor is worth it. All the used edgers i can find are in the $1500 mark give or take but they all seem beat to hell. Im thinking even though I dont want to spend the money, a new machine would give me a warranty and piece of mind knowing it hasnt been abused. Im leaning toward the disc type machine because I have only used the other tooth style and it seems to be a lot of work to rake and pick up all the grass chuncks it leaves behind.

I have used all brands out there except the turf tec (sp) side winder. I feel the Little Wonder is easy to allow to get loose or out of line because it's hydro. Now maybe i'm just not experienced enough with it but i made me not even want to learn. Plus it's terrible on slopes. The pull behind (BB Bed Bug/Brown) is easier to maintain control and a tight line as intended. I believe that this is one area not to rush. I'm not saying drag your feet but take your time and install the edge right the 1st time and it will save you time later. IMO, the Bed Bug has fit the bill the best for me.

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